We Made the Move! – Denise

Greetings and salutations! :-) (anyone who knows me knows I'm not really that formal in person!)

I was a *really* early mover. (I have been in NH for just over a year now). I had signed a lease to move to NH from MA in August 2003, mailed my ballot in, and moved into my new apartment. I had been considering moving North for some time, and with starting graduate school last year, I needed to not be paying $1300/mo + utilities anymore. Besides I like the liberty minded independent streak in the whole state. (Just look at how many vanity plates are out there on NH roads. Freedom of expression is certainly alive in that way up here!)

I am currently working in MA, and living in Southern NH. I expect to change jobs within the next year, but right now I am biding my time while pulling together funding to purchase a small camp. I will eventually rebuild it, in order to make it affordable for me to own my own home.

Some people complain about the high property tax rates up here. But considering the average cost of the homes themselves here, compared with living in a major metro area such as Boston/NYC/DC as I was, the amount spent in taxes is much lower, as the housing prices are lower for much nicer homes. As a comparison, my parents live in northern NJ. When I told them what the annual taxes were on a home of the same selling price as their home might go for, they were amazed how much less per year they might pay in NH, for a home of similar size but including a nice amount of acreage near Concord, and are seriously considering moving up to retire. And as more freestaters move up here, we should all join the NH taxpayer association (as all local New Hampshire-ites should!) in order to work on reducing the rates even more, allowing us to influence how our money will be spent in our communities, and attempt to move more toward a smaller government.

In any case, if a single woman can make it work to move up here, and be considering purchasing a home, I think most anyone can.

I hope my little note is useful to some, and I am on the local porcupine list (ladypantherrr) if anyone would like to ask me more.

- Denise, Nashua area

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